To Save You
by Ventus Phoenix
Summary: While Nine and Queen are out on a mission, Queen suddenly loses control, threatening the safety of both Nine and herself. Nine is the only one who can bring her back, but how can he when he refuses to fight her?
1. Stay Close to Me

Hello everyone! This is my first time writing for FF Type-0, so I hope that you enjoy it!

Which speaking of Type-0, I really want to play the full game but in the meantime the demo will have to do. D:

In this story, attack names, abilities, spells etc. will be italicised; it makes it easier to see what kind of attacks they're using or something, I guess. xD

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Final Fantasy Type-0 or any of its characters, they all belong to Square Enix~

* * *

><p>Fire surrounded her on all sides. Thick smoke filled the air, clouding her thought and her vision. She pushed through the smell of burning flesh; put the cries and screams aside before they could affect her concentration. Her sword felt heavy at her side, but she tightened her grip on it at the sound of enemy soldiers approaching in front of her. She dashed forward without hesitation, her sword moving quickly to strike them down before they could react. She brushed some dust off her skirt before continuing on, her violet eyes scanning the battlefield for her partner. Finally, she spotted a man heaving a long lance on his back, several bodies strewn around him. He spit to the side and turned around, making his way over to her.<p>

"Yo, Queen, everything cleaned up on your end?"

His answer was met with a hard slap to the face, as the woman looked at him sharply with fierce eyes. Still reeling from the force, he held a hand to his stinging cheek and answered with his own daggers digging into her eyes.

"The hell was that for?" he demanded angrily.

"You idiot! You were supposed to stay close to me!" she snapped at him. "I did not give you permission to go and confront those soldiers on your own!"

He shrunk slightly under her gaze, but quickly recovered and dusted off his jacket.

"Yeah well, I'm fine ain't I? You don't have to worry 'bout me so much, alright?"

He pushed past her, kicking a dead soldier's body to the side as he planted his lance in the ground, leaning against it.

"That's not the point! The point is, you disobeyed a direct order, thus putting the whole mission at risk."

"Mmmm… whatever."

She scowled at the man, Nine, and his non-existent attention to both her and the mission, before heaving a loud sigh and joining him at his side.

"It won't be long before they call for reinforcements; we had better hurry."

* * *

><p>She dealt blow after blow, sword swift in hand but it seemed that the wave of soldiers was endless. She narrowed her eyes at the soldier in front of her before charging forward, stabbing him cleanly in the stomach. As she pulled her sword out of the fallen body, she noticed a soldier behind her, gun raised and ready to shoot. But Queen was a split second faster, and a quickly executed <em>Fire<em> spell left her hand, dousing him in flames. She stopped short of breath, leaning on her sword to support herself. She was exhausted, and she could feel her magic reaching its limit; even that last _Fire_ spell took more out of her than it should have. She struggled to keep her footing, but she knew that she couldn't afford to stop; she had to keep moving forward. She forced herself to her feet, just as Nine came up behind her.

"Hey, you alright? You don't look so good," he said to her.

"I'm fine," she panted.

"Are ya sure? We could take a quick–"

"I said I'm fine!" she repeated, more firmly this time.

"…You don't need to act so tough. Here, at least take this."

He handed her an elixir, which she took without a word. She gulped the small bottle down, her face wrinkling slightly with disgust at the bitter taste of the drink. Nine chuckled at her but she ignored him, tossing aside the empty bottle to take hold of her sword again.

"Stay close to me, alright?" she commanded, and ran forward. He shrugged his shoulders, but followed her nonetheless, lance in hand.

They made their way deeper into the city, enemies falling with each slash of her sword and each swing of his lance. They came to an open area, where an army of soldiers was waiting for them. They began to surround the two, cutting off any means of escape. They stood back to back, and with a nod of their heads they began their attack. The sound of bullets flying and clashing metal filled the air, but neither side showed any signs of backing down. She ducked as he spun his lance above his head, hitting soldiers in the chest. He sprang into a _Jump_ as she set off a _Blizzard_ spell, freezing all of the enemies in her surroundings. She expected him to land back by her side, but instead he landed a couple metres away from her and continued the fight.

_No, that idiot! He isn't following orders_, she thought. She cut down some more soldiers, trying to make her way back to Nine but there were too many of them blocking her path. Frustrated, she unleashed _Cross Judge_ on them, a blinding cross-shaped light swirling around her body. With the soldiers out of the way, she saw Nine struggling against a couple of enemies on the other side of the field. She was about to rush to his help when her stomach lurched at the sight behind him.

"Nine, behind you!" She cried as two soldiers began approaching, guns pointing forward. But his attention was focused towards the enemies in front of him, and he hadn't heard her warning nor noticed the approaching soldiers.

Queen focused all of her energy and broke into a _Dash_, planting herself between Nine and the soldiers just as they fired their guns. The bullets entered her flesh, sending sharp pains throughout her body. Staggering, she took her sword and swung it around in a large arc, killing them. Eyes beginning to close, she crumpled to the ground and scarcely heard somebody calling her name.

"_Queen? Queen!_"

The voice sounded so distant, even though she could feel the same person kneeling down right there beside her. Her mind was dull with pain, a numbing coldness beginning to close in on her. She heard the voice again, this time even louder than before. She slowly forced her eyes open, and the blurry figure of Nine's face began to come into focus. She managed a weak smile at him before her wounds caused her to wince in pain.

"Queen, why?"

"I told you…" she coughed in between shallow breaths. "To stay close to me… didn't I?"

Darkness began to pull her under again; she could feel her head spinning, her body succumbing to the pain and exhaustion. A pair of hands grabbed her own; they were strong, but at the same time they also felt so warm and gentle. She gave them a weak squeeze and smiled again at the mysterious person, before her eyes closed and she sank back into the cold darkness once more.

* * *

><p>CLIFFHANGER YAY.<p>

While you're waiting for the next chapter, review please~? :3


	2. Just Die

Welcome back everyone! Here is Chapter 2 for you all to enjoy~

Before you read this chapter, I highly suggest watching this YouTube video (/watch?v=QW6rkoUjlUE&t=24s) if you haven't already; it will help you in understanding the events of this chapter. :)

Also, I suck at writing fight scenes. ;_;

* * *

><p>His heart dropped as the hands he was holding slipped out of his grip, falling upon Queen's bloodied body. He froze, praying to Etro that his worst fear hadn't been realised.<p>

"Queen? Queen? Just hold on! You're gonna be alright!"

He gripped her tightly around the shoulders, begging for her to open her eyes. But she remained still, his words falling onto silent ears. He slammed his fist at his side, holding back his anger.

"Damn it, Queen! You can't do this to me!"

The sound of guns cocking forced him to turn his attention back to the battlefield, where a new army of soldiers had just appeared. He could take them on; he still had enough strength left to fight. But taking up his lance would mean leaving Queen, and he refused to let go of her. He tightened his hold around her, pulling her closer to his body even as the soldiers continued to approach.

They were about to shoot when they lowered their guns, eyes focused not on Nine but on something else. Nine looked down at Queen in his arms, where a strange black aura had begun swirling around her body. When her body started to convulse violently, he let go of her and she stood, the aura continuing to surround her.

"You'll regret what you have done," she growled in a low voice that was not her own.

"Queen…?"

Her sword materialised in her hand, and she charged forward at blinding speed towards the soldiers, swinging her sword in large arcs around them. Several of them fell, but she didn't stop; she continued to glide around the battlefield, soldiers falling with each swing of her saber. Nine watched on, unable to take his eyes off her but he felt that something was wrong; she was acting differently to the usual Queen, and the black aura around her had seemingly grown darker. The soldiers shot at her with their guns, but the bullets had little effect.

Despite the blood seeping from her wounds, she let out a laugh as she slashed mindlessly, blood staining her sword and her uniform.

"Just die!" she screamed at them before killing them in cold blood.

Nine had had enough, and he refused to let Queen go on any longer like this.

"Queen!" he cried out. "Enough! Stop! This isn't like you!"

His words reached her and she turned to glare at him, eyes ablaze with the same black aura that surrounded her body.

"Queen, enough," he repeated more slowly this time.

She growled at him, refusing to listen and charged with her sword outstretched. Nine reacted quickly and rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding her attack. He spotted her circling around, readying to come in for a second attack, and he realised with horror that she intended to fight him. No, she was going to kill him if he didn't do something soon.

He rolled towards his lance and grabbed it, rounding to parry her sword blow just in time. He struggled with the weight against his lance, and he could feel her pushing him farther and farther back. He never stood a chance against her in battle; she was always quick on her feet and fought with carefully calculated movements. But now, with the strange aura driving her it seemed that both her speed and power had increased. He didn't want to fight; he was too afraid of hurting her. The weight on his lance soon disappeared, and she was no longer in front of him.

"Damn it, where did she go?" he muttered. A growling sound came from behind him, and he turned his head to see Queen bolting towards him at full speed. With the weight and length of his lance, he knew that he wouldn't have enough time to parry her strike. He quickly cast _Wall_, but she broke through it easily as it shattered to pieces. She thrust her sword forward and it pierced his right shoulder, causing him to howl in pain.

"Just die!" she hissed, digging the sword further into his shoulder. He let out another cry of pain, before pulling the sword out and kicking her away. He stumbled backwards, holding his shoulder and tightening his grip on his lance. He could see her charging at him again, but he knew he wouldn't be able to fight her in his condition.

Her sword came down and he blocked with his lance, groaning under the weight but she continued to push down on him. It was then he noticed the wounds on her body, most of them still fresh with blood oozing out of them. Even though she was bleeding so heavily, she was still fighting, determined to kill him – even if it meant pushing herself to the edge. Nine quickly shook his head, refusing to let her do so. He had to stop her somehow, before she could hurt herself anymore. He gritted his teeth against her attack, grunting as he tried to push her backwards. She growled, forcing all of her strength forward in a single blow, sending him crashing towards the ground.

He staggered to his feet, leaning against his lance for support. He was in pain, he was exhausted, but he knew now that he had to fight; he had to in order to save her. Fingers tightening around the pole of his lance, he readied his stance as she came bolting forward, sword outstretched and waiting to kill. He ran forward with his lance, spearhead pointed forward and ready to strike.

"Queen!"

* * *

><p>Next chapter will be the last one! I'm sorry this story is going to be so short. ;A;<p>

But I had a lot of fun writing for Type-0/9Q, so I'm definitely looking forward to writing more stories for this fandom/pairing.

While you eagerly await the conclusion, please review~? :3


	3. Home

You know how I said in the author's notes last chapter that I couldn't write fight scenes?

I get around that by putting an epic chapter break in between! \o/

* * *

><p>When she regained consciousness, her whole body was in pain and she could hardly move. Her eyes fluttered open, and she found herself in the middle of the war-torn battlefield, watching pillars of smoke and fire rising up into the sky. She tried to sit up, but a sharp pain in her stomach caused her to lie back down. Looking at her hands, she saw them stained in blood, crimson marks running all the way down the sleeves of her arms. Wincing with a hand on her stomach, she sat up despite the pain and saw the horrible sight before her; a number of soldiers lay dead at her feet, sword slashes marring their bodies and red trails of blood pooling around them. She looked down at her stomach, where a large gash ran across it from one side to the other, blood oozing out of it. Her mind went foggy as she tried to remember what happened; the last thing she remembered was falling unconscious after saving Nine from the soldiers, but everything afterwards was a blur.<p>

"Heh… looks like you finally returned to your old self, hey?" a faint male voice called out to her, a smirk evident in his tone. Her eyes followed the source of the voice, and she saw a man with a mop of dirty blond hair sitting up against a wall, his uniform similarly torn and bloodied.

"Nine…" Queen murmured, a faint smile spreading across her face. She crawled over to him, each movement sending sharp pains throughout her body until she finally collapsed at his side. She held out a shaking hand towards him, and he took it, gripping it tightly in his own bloodied hand. She cringed when she saw his right shoulder, stained in crimson and blood running down his arm and his jacket. She gingerly touched the wound, pulling back when she saw him wincing in pain. She held out her hand, struggling to cast a _Cure_ spell but only a weak light left her hand. _No, how can I be out of magic at a time like this?_ she cried mentally.

"Don't worry about it…" He coughed, giving her a weak smile. "It's just a scratch…"

She eyed the wound more properly again, which looked suspiciously like it was made by a saber.

"Was I the one… who did this to you?" she whispered.

"You weren't acting like yourself… it's not your fault. Besides…" He pointed to the wound on her stomach. "I should be apologising to you for that… I'm worried… I might have made the wound too deep."

Tears started to pool in her eyes as she struggled to come to terms with what had happened; she didn't remember killing all of those soldiers, and she didn't remember hurting Nine either; all she knew was that the slashes marking their bodies were not her usual calculated strikes. A pair of arms held her tightly around the waist, pulling her into an embrace. She found herself in Nine's lap, his forehead resting on top of her head.

"Queen, I'm so glad… that you're okay," he whispered quietly to her, planting kisses on her head. "I was so afraid… that I had lost you."

"Nine…" She leaned against his good shoulder, taking in his warm embrace as tears fell down her cheeks. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry… I can't remember what I did… but I'm sorry for hurting you… I'm sorry for worrying you…"

She sobbed apologies into his shoulder as he gently stroked her hair, leaning down with more kisses on top of her head.

"Nine, it hurts… so much…" she cried, hand clinging to his shirt, the pain in her stomach stinging as she continued to cry. He wiped her tears away, tightening his hold and stroking her cheek. She closed her eyes, leaning contently into his embrace. She felt a warm sensation flow through her body, gradually easing away the pain. She opened her eyes and saw Nine's hand on her stomach, a white light swirling around it. He grunted, his breathing ragged as the warm light disappeared.

"Sorry… looks like I don't have enough magic to heal it up completely," he said, hand still resting on her stomach.

"You idiot," she sobbed, lightly hitting his chest. "You shouldn't have wasted the last of your magic on me…"

He gave her a weak chuckle, repositioning his chin on her head again. "I'll be fine… I told ya it was just a scratch, didn't I?"

She knew that he was lying; just trying to put on a brave face for show. She should have yelled at him; berated him for ever leaving her side in the first place, but they were both tired, exhausted and in pain. And it wasn't that she didn't have the strength to argue with him; it was that she chose not to argue with him this time. And although she had wished for the circumstances to be different, for now she was content just staying in Nine's embrace for the moment.

She cupped his face in her hand, running her palm over his cheek, fingers tracing the outline of his jaw. He caught her hand, caressing her fingers lightly and kissing her fingertips. He guided her hand along his body, allowing her to feel his chest; feel the steady rise and fall of his breathing, feel the gentle thumping of his heart in his chest.

"It's so warm…" she whispered, smiling to herself.

He smiled back at her, letting out a light chuckle. He suddenly froze at an approaching sound, feeling his blood run cold. He looked down at Queen in his arms, and he saw tears beginning to pool in her eyes again; it seemed she understood too, so he tightened his grip on her hand.

"Let's go home," he murmured, kissing her fingertips, and she answered with only a small nod of her head, a forced smile spreading across her face through her tears.

The sound of gunshots filled the air, and all fell silent.

* * *

><p>I'm afraid that I might have made Nine and Queen too OOC in the ending. :| I'm not sure, haha.<p>

Thank you to everyone who has followed this story from the start, and a big thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story as well. I can't thank you all enough!

I look forward to seeing you all again for more Nine/Queen stories, because I can't get enough of this pairing. :3 So please, let me know what you thought about the end of this story!


End file.
